KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA ALIGARH

ENGLISH PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO – MR.S.P.RAGHAV

SUBMITTED BY – ABHAY PRATAP SINGH

CLASS & SEC – 10TH - A

ROLLNO - 55
Dresses Which Peple Wear In Arunachal Pradesh &
Meghalaya.

Traditional Tribal Dresses of Arunachal Pradesh

 Arunachal Pradesh is a land of diversity with over 26
tribes and 100 sub-tribes. People here love their
traditional costumes and are proud to showcase them
on each and every occasion that comes across. Among
the traditional dresses of Arunachal Pradesh include
shawls, wraps and skirts. The most significant tribes of
Arunachal Pradesh include Adi, Aka, Galo, Nyishi, Bori,
Apatani, Bokar and Tangsa. Though the tribes share
common ethnic but depending on the geographic
region they belong to the dressing style also changes.
Weaving is said to be in the blood of the natives of
Arunachal Pradesh with Apatani tribe leading the lot
with the capability to turn fibres derived from goat,
human hair and trees to shawls, skirts, loincloth etc in
numerous designs.
Origin of the Traditional Dresses in Arunachal
Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh exhibits massive cultural diversity
when it comes to clothing. Being essentially a tribal
state, there are many tribes and each have their own
set of traditions and customs. This is reflected in the
distinct clothing styles. While most of them are
ethnically similar, they have different origins of their
clothing. Mostly, they have derived the most style of
clothing from their ancestors. The geographical
separation has brought in the other little changes in
the styling. The tribes in Arunachal Pradesh are
known for weaving, which is also why the handloom
industry is a thriving industry there. Aptami tribe
have been progressing with advanced techniques. The
tribal people prefer wearing indigenous organic
 materials only. The raw materials used are basically
goat hair, human hair, tree barks etc. Using all these,
they create skirts, shawls, ceremonial coats, etc. The
colours preferred by the local craftsmen are dark blue,
scarlet, yellow, emerald, black etc. The origin of these
colours are natural dyes, extracted from trees, flowers,
barks and seeds. The skull caps known as Gurdams
worn by the Monpa tribe are made of yak hair. The
men of Adi tribe wear helmets carved out of deer and
bearskins and canes. The accessories of women,
although different for all tribes, commonly use
bamboo bits available in plenty in the state.

Sherdukpen Tribe
Men's Clothing
They are natives of Bomdila and resemble the
Monapas. Traditionally, a Sherdukpan male wears
sleeveless silk material with its edges attached to the
shoulder. The costume falls down till knee length. The
look is complete only after a skull cap which has yak's
hair decorated on it is worn on top of the head.
 Sherdukpen Man.
Women's Clothing
They wear collarless and sleeveless dresses till knee
length. Along with this, a wear waist cloth along with
a fully embroidered jacket having full sleeves is worn.
Women make a bun on the backside of their head and
 have super-awesome weaving skills.

Tangsa Tribe
Men's Clothing
This tribe wears costumes on similar lines to Burmese.
The men wear green coloured wrap around spun in
white, red as well as yellow coloured yarn. A sleeveless
shirt along with an upper garment too is worn.
 Women's Clothing

Women, on the other hand, wear a petticoat which is

intricately woven and is extremely catchy to the eyes.
Along with it, a linen blouse is worn too.
 Dresses of Meghalaya: Attires And Ornaments

Meghalaya is known to be one of the most beautiful

states of North Eastern India. The state has a very
peaceful atmosphere and a serene environment to
offer and is home to a number of tribes such as Garo,
Khasi and Jaintia. The rituals, identity and traditions
of any state are very well represented by the dresses
worn by the people living there, and this is
particularly the case for in the case of Meghalaya.
There is a simplicity in the dressing style of the people
here which brings out the beauty of the place even
more. As most of you must have guessed by now, this
article comprises of all the traditional dresses worn by
men as well as women in Meghalaya which are given
as below-

For Women
 For women, the traditional costume is known as
Jainsen. This unstitched garment is made of mulberry
silk and is worn around the body. The mulberry silk is
cultivated in Meghalaya locally. Endi Shawl is another
important costume of the region is also made up of
silk.

Garo Tribe

The clothes worn by the Garo tribe varies on the basis

of the place of residence of the people. Women who
belong to faraway villages of Garo hills wear eking
which is a small cloth worn around the waist. Garo
women who stay in either densely populated or
crowded places wear long dresses which are made up
of cotton. The women belonging to this tribe wear a
blouse along with a hand made lungi called
Dakmanda, which is wrapped around the waist. The
Dakmanda possesses broad borders around 6 to 10
inches thick with floral patterns adorned on them.
 Khasi Tribe
Women belonging to the tribe of Khasi wear a Jainsen
along with a blouse. This Jainsen covers their body
right from the waist down till the ankles. On top of
these dresses, tap-moh khlieh which is a cotton shawl
is worn which is representative of an apron. Women
wear a long Assam Muga silk piece in the form of a
dress during Ka Jainsem Dhara. The senior women of
the tribe wear Jainkup which is made up of woollen
cloth. Women belonging to the Khasi tribe also wear
accessories with the dresses which compliment the
costume beautifully. These accessories include
ornaments made up of pure gold or silver. During Ka
Shad Suk Mynsiem which is a festival of the Khasis,
female dancers wear a cloth which is draped right
from the waist up till the ankle. This is worn with a
blouse having full sleeves having beautiful lacework
 around the neck. The dress comprises of two
rectangular pieces of cloth which are embroidered
with gold threads fixed in a crosswise fashion, one of it
overlapping the other. Accessories include a necklace
made up of red coral and beads covered in foil, golden
earrings and a golden or silver crown consisting of
silver threads in the back of it.

Ka Pom-Blang Nongkrem is another Khasi festival

during which unmarried girls wear costumes which
are pleasing to the eyes paired with golden or silver
crowns with yellow flowers placed on them.

Jaintia Tribe

Women belonging to this tribe have a traditional style

of clothes in comparison to other tribes. They use a
Kyrshah which is a small piece of cloth having checks
on it to cover their heads post harvest season. They
 cover their bodies with a velvet blouse and an ankle
length sarong known as Thoh Khyrwang.

The females of the tribe wear a cape like cloth made

up of Assam muga silk. The men and women
belonging to the Jaintia tribe dress up in ostentatious
and splendid costumes during festivals. The women
accessorise their costumes with silver and gold
ornaments. Kynjri Ksiar is a unique gold pendant
which is adorned by the women belonging to the Khasi
and Jaintia tribes.
 For Men
Men belonging to the Garo tribe wear a loincloth as
their traditional dress. The men of the Khasi Tribe
wear a long cloth around their waist which is
unstitched. This long cloth has a lot of similarity to a
Dhoti which can be worn along with a jacket, turban
or some other kind of headgear. During the festival
of Ka Shad Suk Mynsie, male dancers wear a beautiful
turban made up of silk along with a golden or silver
plate semi-circular in shape which can be worn
around the neck. Along with this, a jacket which is
intricately embroidered too is worn. During the
dancing rituals of Ka Pom-Blang Nongkrem festivities,
men carry a sword in one hand and hair whisk of a
yak in the other. A lot of similarities can be found out
amongst the Jaintia as well as Khasi tribes in terms of
their clothing.